معرفی
Stefan Pulver is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, where he leads research in the neuroethology of movement in small animals. He is affiliated with the Centre for Biophotonics, Centre for Higher Education Research, and the Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences. He is currently accepting postgraduate research students and supervising PhD projects in insect movement neurobiology.
- BA, Colby College, USA (1999)
- PhD, Brandeis University (2009)
His research centers on understanding how insect brains control complex locomotion across varied terrains, using integrative methods spanning genetics, anatomy, electrophysiology, live imaging, biomechanics, and field behavior. He works with species such as flies, beetles, and aquatic invertebrates, with findings relevant to vertebrate neuroscience and bio-inspired robotics. His lab emphasizes sustainable and accessible science practices.
The recent publications reflect a strong focus on motor control in Drosophila and Tribolium larvae, with themes including neural circuit motifs, locomotor variability, force sensing technologies, and computational modeling of neuronal memory. His work frequently combines cutting-edge optical and genetic tools to decode movement at neural and biomechanical levels.
Stefan Pulver has been involved in multiple research projects funded by BBSRC and NERC, including those on neural network resilience, open-source microscopy (STRÏMM), and rapid imaging technologies. He serves as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on several grants, supporting students and collaborative research.
He is actively engaged in teaching and academic leadership: he founded and coordinates the MRes in Neuroscience program and advises the Students Teaching Teachers Teaching Students (ST3S) initiative. He has also co-directed major training workshops such as the Neurobiology of Drosophila Summer Course at Cold Spring Harbor and the CrawFly neurophysiology workshop.
His lab collaborates with external partners including BugLife Scotland and Cairn Research, and his work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals in areas like sustainable science and biodiversity. He has served as an editor for Scientific Reports and is a member of the Education Committee for the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience.
